Naruto: The Painful Path
by namikazen01
Summary: Summary: Naruto decided to leave Konoha because of his mistreatment and gained new allies with the Akatsuki. The world will be in for a lot of surprises as he and the Akatsuki save the world from hatred.
1. Chapter 1

**Naruto: The Path of Pain**

**Summary: Naruto decided to leave Konoha because of his mistreatment and gained new allies with the Akatsuki. The world will be in for a lot of surprises as he and the Akatsuki save the world from hatred.**

**AN: There will some similarities from canon, but will 'most likely' stray out of it after the first part. I will also not bother trying to describe some or most of the canon characters as the readers will have an idea how they look like or who they are. This fic will not also follow the back story of canon (i.e. Itachi's reason for murdering his entire clan.), this fic will have it's own back story and I might borrow some back story from canon, but not much. It will be too troublesome to connect the plots. This is my first Naruto fic, so please forgive me for any errors. I will try my best to satisfy your cravings, so please do not compare this fic with canon because, simply, this is not canon. **

**The time-line is set during Naruto's first try of taking the Genin Exams. So, he is ahead of two years from Sasuke and the other Genins from canon. I don't know if they had explained that in canon too. He's actually older than his graduating class by two years in canon. hmmm. I just realized that now. So, Naruto is already twelve in the start of this fic.**

**REMEMBER: THIS IS NOT CANON! Read and Review PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any related material.**

"I'm saying it!"

'I'm thinking it'

**"Bijuu Conversation"**

**Chapter 1: The Truths, Lies and Consequences**

* * *

Naruto ran away as fast as he can from the Konohagakure after stealing the Forbidden Scroll into the forest just outside of Konoha. He failed the Genin Exam earlier and was approached by Mizuki and told him that in order for him to graduate, he needed to steal the Forbidden Scroll and meet up with him at night. Mizuki had told him that it was part of a secret exam. Naruto arrived at the meeting place about an hour early, so he decided to practice some jutsus in the scroll he just stole before Mizuki arrived.

About almost an hour of practicing, Naruto was panting heavily as he laid down on the forest floor when a man stood above his head with an enraged expression. The man had an average height and build. He has black hair that he keeps in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with forehead protector sandals, and flak jacket. His sleeves were also rolled up about a quarter way.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto grinned at the man.

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing?!" Iruka asked his blond troublemaking student, fury was shown on his face. Naruto stood up, still grinning madly.

"I did it, Sensei! I got the Forbidden Scroll. Does that mean I pass the Genin Exam?" Naruto asked. Iruka was startled at what Naruto said, and decided to prod more.

"Naruto, what test are you talking about? And why did you steal the Forbidden Scroll. The Village is in uproar because of what you did." Iruka asked, eyeing the big scroll behind Naruto.

"The test Mizuki-sensei told me. It was a secret exam for me to pass to be become a genin." Naruto answered truthfully.

Realization dawned in Iruka's face as he figured out that Mizuki had instigated everything. He heard a faint sound going towards the both of them and he pushed Naruto away whle he got hit by a few kunais.

"I'm surprised you found this place, Iruka." Mizuki sneered at his fellow academy teacher.

"I see. So that's what's going on." Iruka said while holding his injured shoulder. Naruto was startled and a little scared of what happened as he was still on the ground because of being pushed my Iruka.

"Naruto, give me the scroll." Mizuki ordered Naruto.

"Don't give him the scroll, no matter what happens! That is a dangerous scroll containing forbidden jutsus. Mizuki used you to get his hands on it." Iruka shouted at Naruto, much to the latter's disbelief. Mizuki looked at Iruka and smirked evilly at him.

"Naruto, there's no point in you having that scroll. I'll tell you the truth." Mizuki started, but was cut off by Iruka's protests. Mizuki ignored the injured chunin and continued what he was going to say. "12 years ago, you know about the demon fox being sealed right?" Mizuki questioned the young blond, and receiving a blank stare. "Since that incident, a new rule has been created."

"A rule?" Naruto asked, curious to where the conversation was going.

"But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you." Mizuki said, smirking.

"Not to me? What is this rule? Why?" Naruto asked frantically, but Mizuki didn't answer right away and chuckled. "Wh-What kind of rule is it?" Naruto stuttered.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed talk about that you are a demon fox!" Mizuki smirked triumphantly.

Naruto, not believing what he has heard, fell down on his butt because of shock. Iruka's yelled "Stop it!" over and over to Mizuki, wanting to shield Naruto away from the truth.

Mizuki was enjoying his triumph and decided to make the demon child's life more miserable. "It was you that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. It was the Hokage that you admire that sealed the demon fox into you. You have been lied to by everyone. Didn't you find it odd that everyone hates you? Iruka is the same! He hates you!" Mizuki yelled as he prepared to strike Naruto with his large shuriken that was on his back.

Iruka, by this time was feeling miserable because he had hated Naruto for quite sometime even if he knew that it wasn't his fault. He knew that all the villagers and most of the ninja population of Konoha, had resented Naruto because of what he was carrying inside of him. Iruka also knew that the people of Konoha just used Naruto as a scapegoat for their suffering because of the people they have lost during the attack of the Kyuubi. Iruka also knew that Naruto acted the way he did because he wanted people to acknowledge his existence in any possible way.

Iruka saw Mizuki getting ready to throw the large shuriken at Naruto and ran in front of Naruto to shield him from it.

But the hit didn't come.

Confused at what happened, Iruka looked behind him and was shocked to see that someone was standing behind Mizuki and saw blood flowing from Mizuki's mouth.

Mizuki, however, dropped the large shuriken and felt pain in his chest and the tip of a kunai coming out from where his heart was located. He dropped to the ground and turned his face a little, so he can see who had stabbed him. The person was wearing a black cloak with red cloud pattern design. He had a young-looking face and had a centre-parted bangs that framed his face, extending to his chin, but the most distinguishing feature were the long, pronounced tear-troughs under his eyes. His eyes were the legendary three-tomoe Sharingan.

"I-Itachi U-U-Uchiha." Mizuki stuttered before he took his last breath.

Seeing Mizuki dead, Iruka became more rigid and nervous as the Uchiha Clan murdered made his way towards them.

"What do you want?!" Iruka said, swallowing down his fear of the S-ranked missing-nin. Naruto, however, was intrigued by the new arrival.

"Stand aside. I'm only here for Naruto." Itachi said with his usual demeanor.

"What do you want with him?" Iruka asked, shielding Naruto away from Itachi. Before Itachi could answer, Iruka was knocked out by a chop in the neck by Kisame Hoshigaki.

Itachi looked at his partner, but didn't stop his stride towards Naruto, who was now looking, and intrigued, at Kisame's features and the wrapped Samehada.

"It was taking too long, and I didn't really want to fight him, seeing that he's week." Kisame answered the silent question of his partner while shugging. Itachi reached Naruto, and kneeled in front of him and introduced himself and Kisame.

"Naruto, I was ordered by our leader to bring you with us. He will explain everything to you and answer some of the questions you have, and so will I." Itachi told the blond boy.

Naruto thought about it, and haven't really thought why he needed to stay at Konoha, now that he knew the truth why he was hated. Without wasting anymore time, Naruto nodded as he accepted by the two unknown ninja. 'At least they haven't called me demon or any demeaning names the second they saw me, like all the villagers did.' Naruto mused. He was brought out of his musing when he remembered the forbidden scroll that was slung at his back.

"Itachi-san, what about this thing that I stole?" Naruto asked the man that asked him to join them. Itachi thought for a second and sensed quite a few chakra signatures coming towards them, three to five minutes tops before arriving.

"Leave it. We don't need you to be marked as a criminal when you're this young, Naruto." Itachi answered, much to Kisame's protest, but was silenced by a single look from Itachi.

Kisame sighed as he really has no choice, but to follow Itachi because their leader deemed Itachi to lead the mission and only for him to act as a support.

"We need to go. Konoha's forces are on their way." Itachi said to Kisame. Kisame nodded and picked up Naruto, after he laid the forbidden scroll beside the unconscious academy instructor, and leapt away with Itachi far from Konoha as possible.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, was massaging his own head because of a huge migraine. He had just been in a council meeting with the Clan heads, civilian council and the village elders explaining what had transpired that night. He told them that an Academy instructor, Mizuki, had tricked Naruto Uzumaki in stealing the forbidden scroll by telling him that he will pass the genin exams if he did. He also told them that Mizuki admitted that he had tricked the student. It was proved by Iruka Umino when he woke up. He also told them that the forbidden scroll was brought back. But when they told them that Naruto had been abducted by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, chaos occurred.

The civilian council applauded that the village pariah was gone and hoped that he won't ever return. Some of the Clan heads demanded that he should be brought back for different reasons, but mostly to have the jinhuuriki back. The war-hawk Danzo, ordered that several retrieval teams must be sent out in order Konoha not losing face because they had lost their Jinchuuriki. The civilian council countered that the demon child should be left alone at the hands of missing-nins, the loudest was the Haruno matriarch.

After a couple of agonizing hours of shouting, debating, and demanding a few ridiculous requests, Hiruzen decided to end the meeting by stating what will be done. Naruto Uzumaki will not be labeled as a missing-nin and won't be put in the Bingo books because he wasn't a shinobi, much to the civilian councils' dismay. He would be, however, put in the missing persons list. A retrieval team will be sent after him because he was a bijuu. Hiruzen had told them that the law he had stated of not telling Naruto's identity to the younger generation still stood because if the other hidden villages found out that the jinchuuriki of Konoha had gone missing, they might face an invasion. That seemed to force the civilian council to follow the law, seeing as they will be put in harm's way if an invasion occurred.

Hiruzen had decided to keep the identity of the two missing-nins a secret and also lying about Naruto being abducted to avoid future headaches as he was sure that the matter of Naruto Uzumaki was not yet over. He just hoped that his decision to keep the identities will not come to hunt him in the future. He was also worried about Jiraiya's reaction when he will learn of Naruto's not-really abduction. He sighed heavily as he was very tired and it was already early dawn.

"Forgive me, Minato-kun, Kushina-chan." Hiruzen said as he let a few tears drop from his eyes.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato( Village Hidden by Rain)**

It had been almost a week and a half since Naruto left Konoha with the two Akatsuki-nins before they reached Amegakure. It had been fun and tiring for Naruto during the travel towards their destination. But he had enjoyed the sight as they travel because he had never been outside of Konoha before. Although he got hungry a few times because they had to travel quite a few before they reach a village for them to grab a meal and rest, it was fine for him as he was never treated badly whenever they went. Naruto was also astonished by the sight of Amegakure because of its architecture composed of several metallic skyscrapers with rowed ducts connected to them and many power lines surrounding.

When they reached the headquarters of the leader of Amegakure, Naruto was ushered inside and was given a room for him to stay at. Itachi and Kisame bid him goodbye and went to their own places to look presentable as they had a debriefing with the leader. Naruto then was helped by a middle-aged female attendant and told him to go take a shower in his own bathroom as she prepared his change of clothes and a meal, when she saw his state.

After Naruto had finished taking a bath, he was given a fresh change of clothes. His orange jumpsuit was thrown away after he had discarded it, much to his frustration. He was then given a huge amount of nutritious meal that he miraculously liked. After his meal, he was told by the woman attending him, whose name was Ina, to rest for a bit and he will be fetch at a later time to meet with the leader. Naruto then decided to sleep.

He was woken from his short slumber when he heard a voice calling his name and he was being shaken lightly. He opened his eyes and saw Itachi was the one who was waking him up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly for a few seconds before getting off his new fluffy bed.

"Naruto, it's time for you to meet the leader." Itachi told him after he had fully woken up. Naruto nodded and followed Itachi as they exited his room. They walked quietly for a few minutes as Naruto looked around the 'headquarters' as Itachi called it earlier. They had passed several rooms and floors until they reached the top floor of the headquarters. They approached the farthest door and saw Konan and Kisame standing beside each other, waiting for them. Naruto was feeling a bit nervous as they approached the door of the so-called leader.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. I'm Konan." Konan introduced herself with a smile, lessening Naruto's worry a bit.

"Hello, Konan-oneechan." Naruto answered with his own smile, and making Konan's smile bigger for him calling her oneechan.

After that, the four of them entered the room. The room was a wide open space, with a full balcony on one side of the room. The room had a few lights with it, but not overly so. Naruto saw a figure sitting in a huge throne in the middle of the room, figured that it was the leader. He also saw five figures just behind the leader wearing the Akatsuki cloaks.

The four of them stopped in front of the throne, or what Naruto thought was a throne, until he saw it up close. It wasn't a throne at all. The lower part of it was some type of a mechanical walker with a hole in front of it. The leader's body was slumped with half his body inside the walker. His body was emaciated with chakra receivers implanted into his back, one in each of his shoulder joints, smaller ones in his forearms and two metal-like screw under his collar bones, near his shoulder joint. He had chin-length red hair and he had rippling purple eyes also known as Rinnegan.

"Leader-sama." The three Akatsuki-nins bowed their heads in respect. The leader just bowed his head a bit in return.

"Itachi, Kisame, I see that you have successfully returned." The leader acknowledged the pair for their mission and looked at the awkward-looking blond kid standing with the three older ninjas. "Have you ran into any trouble?" The leader asked Itachi and Kisame.

"No, Leader-sama. It was no trouble at all." Kisame answered confidently.

"What Kisame said was true, Leader-sama, but I think the Sandaime saw our interaction with Naruto. I don't know the consequences will be, but I will be sending some spies in Konoha to know what the situations is regarding Naruto." Itachi said.

"Yes, that will be an excellent move. You both are excused." The leader said, dismissing Itachi and Kisame. The pair bowed their heads and left the room.

Naruto stood their watching the older people interact while he felt some sort of connection with the leader. He felt somehow familiar with the leader. He was still nervous so he held Konan's hand and thankfully, she let him do so.

"You must be Naruto Uzumaki." The leader stated, more that asked.

"Yes. Leader-sama." Naruto answered, not fully knowing what to say other than follow what the others did. The leader smiled a bit at the boy.

"Naruto, you can call me Nagato. My full name is Nagato Uzumaki." Nagato introduced himself, fully shocking the younger Uzumaki.

"Y-You're an Uzumaki too? Does that mean that we're related?" Naruto asked after getting over his initial shock. The red-haired Uzumaki nodded yet showing another rare smile.

The blond then became giddy and asked a lot of questions without pause such as if he knew his mother and father and if they have any family left and such, much to Konan's amusement. Nagato might have not shown it, but he too was amused. Nagato remained silent as Naruto finished his barrage of questions.

"I'm sorry to say, but I didn't personally knew your parents. I've heard of them though. And I'm sorry to say, but we're the only remaining Uzumaki that I know of." Nagato answered Naruto truthfully.

"How did you even know about me and how do you know we're related?" Naruto asked with more dignity this time.

"I've heard about you from Itachi when he joined the Akatsuki. I've also learned about your mother from Tobi." Nagato replied. A moment later a vortex formed beside Naruto and a person wearing Akatsuki robes and a spiral mask with a hole on the right side eye socket showing a three-tomoe Sharingan.

"I'm Tobi. Pleased to meet you." Said the man who just appeared seemingly out of thin air, with a hint of cheerfulness in his voice.

"H-hello. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced himself while being awed by the masked man's entrance.

"Now, onto serious topics." Nagato started, gaining the attention of the three standing before him. "Naruto, do you want to be stronger and powerful?" Nagato asked the blond Uzumaki.

"Yes." Naruto answered, but quite confused at the question.

"Why? Tell me a reason why you want to become stronger and powerful." Nagato asked Naruto seriously. Naruto stood there for awhile and was thinking how to answer this question as best as he can. He was a prankster at heart, but he felt that this was a moment that can change the course of his whole life. After a few more minutes, he finally gave his answer.

"I want to become stronger and powerful, so I can defend my self and those whom I will come to love and become precious to me. I may have never experienced being loved, but I have experienced being hated, ridiculed, hurt, and cast aside. I do not want any of those feelings to be done to anyone who will become precious to me. I may not know love, but I know hate." Naruto said with a unfamiliar serious expression on his face. Nagato and Tobi nodded at his answer.

"Are you willing to do anything to end this cycle of hatred, by any means necessary?" Nagato asked Naruto again. Naruto nodded with a determined look on his face.

"Good. In order for you to reach that goal, you would need to go under surgery." Tobi said seriously, but he almost lost it when he saw Naruto's facial expression. Naruto didn't say anything, so he elected to continue. "You will have to gain the Sharingan to activate a hidden kekkei genkai of the Uzumaki Clan. You have the DNA of the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan, as they were both distantly related, and by transplanting a pair of Sharingan eyes into you, the Uchiha Clan. It will trigger the activation of the legendary Rinnegan, as you saw from your cousin's eyes." Tobi told Naruto, while gesturing towards Nagato at the end.

"My old master, Madara Uchiha, had transplanted his own eyes into Nagato when Nagato was young, and by doing so, he had successfully awakened the Rinnegan. He told me of a plan that will end this cycle of hatred, and Nagato has a crucial part in it. But why settle on one pair of Rinnegan, when two can be made? Nagato can train you in using the Rinnegan and will guide you carefully, as you don't end up like what happened to him. Do you accept?" Tobi asked the blond Uzumaki.

Naruto looked at the older Uzumaki for support and received a firm nod and Konan squeezed his hands, showing her support. Naruto took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.

"Alright. I accept."

* * *

**AN: There you go readers! How did you like it? Good? Bad? This is a trial fic. If it receives a good response, I will continue it. If it doesn't, abandon or it will be up for adoption.**

**IMPORTANT AN: For future reading purposes, The Akatsuki in this fic will be like Pein in canon. Good intentions, but had twisted way of doing it. I haven't read any fic like that yet, but I haven't really read a lot of Naruto fics yet. lol. Also, the Akatsuki will be like family in this fic, that is not saying that they will all be goody goody, but they will have their moments. You can say that this is a grey Naruto fic.**

**I don't know about pairings yet. I don't want to write a harem story though, and definitely not writing a slash. I have nothing against slash fics, but I just don't read them. This will be strictly hetero-pairing fic. I don't want to put up a poll because I don't know which one to put up. So add your choice at the end of your review. I will be putting up a poll after I get all the suggestions in the reviews. If I get any.**

**Read and Review PLEASE.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto: The Painful Path **

**Chapter 2: Evolve**

**AN: This has just been re-uploaded because I was getting questions about the plot. Please remember that this is not canon. The original canon story has no connection with this. Please do not compare and mix the stories up. **

**I will create my own plotline and unless I say so, the plot of canon won't be the same as this one. The only similarities will be the characters and, like I said, If I mention in the story that it follows the canon plot.**

**REMEMBER: THIS IS NOT CANON! No Spoilers from my plot either, so please don't ask. Just wait and read it whenever it comes out.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any related materials.

* * *

The surgery had been done the following day in the operating room inside the headquarters. They left the new eyes covered with bandages to avoid any complications. Tobi had checked the results everyday and told Nagato and Konan that the results were beyond satisfactory. The eyes were evolving in a steady pace everyday. After that it had taken a full week for Naruto's new eyes to settle down, evolve and link with his own body.

Konan was quite nervous about the whole thing. She had grown close to Naruto at the duration of his stay in Amegakure. She treated him like her own little brother and in a way, he was. So when the day had arrived that the new eyes will be revealed, she was quite jittery.

Tobi removed the bandages around Naruto's eyes and can't help but feel proud of himself when he saw a new pair of Rinnegan when Naruto finally opened his eyes. It glowed for a minute before settling down. Konan gasped when she saw Naruto's new eyes. It looked exactly like Nagato's.

Naruto, on the other hand, felt extremely good with his new eyes. He can see every detail in his surroundings. He can see better than his old eyes if he had something to say about it.

"Naruto." Tobi said, breaking Naruto out of his daze. "I believe that the Rinnegan is working properly?" Obito stated more than asked. Naruto nodded and smiled at the pair.

"Naruto-kun, come with us and meet up with Nagato. He will want to see your new eyes." Konan said fondly to the young Uzumaki. Naruto nodded again and stood up from his bed and went towards where Nagato always were, the top floor.

The leader of Amegakure was pleased, to say the least, when he saw Naruto's Rinnegan. He had told Naruto to meet with him there everyday at 10 a.m. for his training. Nagato was the only other one that had the Rinnegan, so he's the only one that can help him unlocking Naruto's abilities for the Rinnegan. Though Konan and, surprisingly, Tobi also offered. Naruto thanked the three of them profusely. He was then dismissed and told to rest for the rest of the day while the three older Akatsuki members discuss some business.

The next morning came and Naruto was walking towards the top floor for his first day of training with Nagato. He had been nervous and excited since he woke up and ate his meal carefully and with grace as his attendant told him to do so. His attendant also told him that he will be trained in etiquette as per the leader's order.

Naruto knocked on the door and entered. He approached Nagato and bowed his head.

"Naruto, from now on you will call me Sensei when we train. You can call me Nagato when we aren't training, but you must call me Leader-sama when we are talking business. Am I understood?" Nagato asked.

"Hai, Leader-sama." Naruto answered, gaining a small smile from Nagato.

One of the figures behind Nagato stepped up and stood beside Nagato.

"This is one of my paths. He was also one of my friends before he died. This was Yahiko. He is one of the bodies that I control and you will train with this body. This is the body that I control for Deva Path, one of the Six Paths. Follow him to the training grounds." Nagato said to Naruto. Naruto nodded and followed the Deva Path's body out of the building and into one of the underground training grounds.

* * *

Over the course of two years, Naruto had grown significantly stronger and physically. He now stood at 5'11" and grew his hair past his shoulders with the top of it slightly spiked. He had an athletic and chiseled body that showed how hard he had trained. His face had also lost all its roundness and it showed his defined high cheekbones. Itachi told him he now looked like the exact replica of the fourth Hokage, though with different eyes. His whisker marks had disappeared over time and Tobi told him that the power of Rinnegan had subdued the physical side-effect of having a Bijuu sealed within him. To say the least, he was popular with the women in Amegakure and outside when he goes to missions. Though his eyes were also quite attention grabber due to its weirdness. Not a lot of people knew about the Rinnegan.

He had mastered how to use all of the Six Paths, the Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka Path. He had also learned to use the Outer Path. He learned some powerful jutsus from Tobi, mainly Fire techniques as he was a born Uchiha. Tobi was able to teach some Mokuton techniques to Naruto, much to everyone's surprise. But Naruto wasn't able to learn Tobi's "intangible" technique since he didn't have the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Naruto had trained with Konan with taijutsu whenever they trained. Konan's jutsus were mostly centered with paper and Naruto learned a few techniques with it. He had also trained with all of the members of Akatsuki and gained significant amount of techniques from it. But he mostly concentrated on the Rinnegan's abilities.

Naruto had taken a few mission with some of the Akatsuki members after a year of training and the other members were satisfied with his abilities. He was able to work with everyone who goes to missions without slowing them down and he gained respect from the Akatsuki members. Though he went most of the missions with Konan as they seem to go along well. He didn't mind taking missions with the others to say the least.

All in all, Naruto became the Akatsuki's apprentice-member.

* * *

Naruto and Kisame were walking towards the new country of Land of Waves. Kisame had learned through Zetsu that his old teammate, Zabuza Momochi, had been hired in the Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves). Kisame wanted to meet his old teammate again and collect his bounty. It was quite large because of his attempted coup de tat in Kirigakure (Land of the Mist). The Akatsuki had been taking more and more missions lately to finance their operations. They were getting ready to capture the jinchūrikis.

The two talked as they walked towards their destination. Naruto retained his bubbly personality, but not as loud-mouth and idiotic as he was before joining Akatsuki. Kisame had almost the same personality with Naruto despite of being known as the Monster of the Mist. They were both wearing their Akatsuki robes with their conical straw hat with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces.

Nami no Kuni had a very depressing mood on it, opposite to Amegakure. Even if it mostly always rained in Amegakure, the people there were lively and the hidden village in the rain was a very prosperous village under the rule of Akatsuki. Even if it was mostly unknown by the people that lived in Amegakure that the hidden village was being run by a group of missing-nins. The buinesses in Nami no Kuni were mostly closed due to not having enough customers and due to high taxes. Nami no Kuni, in short, was being controlled and ruled by a rich businessman named Gatō. Gatō was running the country to the ground.

Akatsuki's goal for this mission was to kill Zabuza Momochi for his bounty and not save the country. It wasn't their job and priority to save the country. Zetsu's intel said that Gatō had hired Zabuza as an assassin.

The pair approached the bridge connecting Hi no Kuni to Nami no Kuni where Naruto can sense quite a few strong chakra. He and Kisame watched the commotion that was about to start from a high vantage point and quite a distance away to avoid detection.

* * *

**Bridge**

**(AN: The battle scene for this part will just be the same as canon, but a few changes until Haku's death. I will not be writing battle scenes thoroughly if it was the same in canon.)**

Kakashi Hatake was cursing his luck again for running to Zabuza. He thought that the missing-nin was already killed by the hunter-nin. 'I guess that hunter-nin was a fake after all. I should have known better.' Kakashi sighed. He knew his team wasn't good enough to fight with Zabuza and his hidden accomplice. They barely escape the last time and he knew it.

"Where's your accomplice?" Kakashi asked, hoping to buy more time. He had left Sai to guard the house and brought Sasuke and Sakura with him to guard the bridge. Zabuza smirked and waved his hand for his accomplice to show up. A figure wearing a white hunter-nin mask showed up beside him and pulled a pair of senbon needles, preparing for a fight.

"You think your little genins will have a chance against Haku? Hah! Good luck with that!" Zabuza exclaimed.

"Your accomplice is nothing against Sasuke-kun! He's an Uchiha after all!" Sakura retorted, much to Sasuke and Kakashi's chagrin.

Naruto was quite interested what was about to happen next after learning that Itachi's brother was there. He was also amused at the pink-haired kunoichi about her remark.

Kakashi engaged Zabuza in battle while Sasuke fought Haku. Sakura had been ordered to protect Tazuna. Kakashi and Zabuza's fight was brutal and equal. Kakashi copied every move of Zabuza. They fought inside a thick mist. Sasuke and Haku's fight however, was one sided. Sasuke had never even touched Haku once the fake hunter-nin activated his Kekkei Genkai. When he used his Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystal, Sasuke had been nearly annihilated and was saved by Sai using his Super Beast Imitating Drawing to break into the Ice Mirrors from the outside. Sasuke then awakened his Sharingan and both of them fought Haku.

Both of them managed to damage Haku and break his hunter-nin mask showing his features. However, before they could continue engaging in battle, Kakashi used his dog summons to find Zabuza within the mist and used Chidori to attack Zabuza once his dogs had found him. Haku appeared in front of Zabuza, saving his master and died.

Gatō showed up after with quite a few thugs with him.

"I knew you were useless, Zabuza. I didn't plan on paying you after the mission anyway and just kill you for your troubles. It's too bad that your little dog had since I wanted to kill him myself for what he did to me. Breaking his employes hand. Che! The bastard." Gatō ranted while his thugs laughed raucously.

"Kakashi. Do you mind if I borrow a kunai?" Zabuza asked. Kakasi handed him a kunai and he put it in his mouth. He was about halfway towards where the thugs were, but someone blocked his path. He was surprised when he saw Kisame in front of him. Zabuza dropped the kunai from his mouth.

"Zabuza. How have you been?" Kisame asked, grinning in a shark-like manner.

"Kisame. What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked suspiciously.

"Oh. Nothing really. I'm just here for your head." Kisame said and with that he grabbed Zabuza head and snapped it like a twig before he laughed.

"Kisame Hoshigaki. Missing-nin of Kirigakure. Rank: S-class. Former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and also known as Monster of the Mist. What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked carefully.

"Ohh. Kakashi Hatake. I'm honored that I'm known by such a famous shinobi such as you." Kisame mocked.

Gatō, having enough of being ignored ordered his men to attack the rest of them including the new arrival. His men heard what the Konoha Shinobi said wasn't keen on attacking the new arrival and didn't move from their spot. Gatō then told them that the person to defeat the Kakashi and Kisame will be paid by a large amount of money. The thugs then ran to attack, but all of them were blown to the side and into the water by Naruto using Shinra Tensei.

"Who are you?!" Gatō asked fearfully Naruto. Naruto have had enough of the rich businessman ordering his people to attack and causing unnecessary conflict just threw a kunai into the man's skull, killing him instantly.

"Kisame, we got our intended target. We need to go." Naruto told the older shark-like man. Kisame nodded and hoisted Zabuza's body unto his shoulders and picked up Kubikiribōchō.

"Who are you?!" Sasuke shouted, jealous that someone was stronger than he was. He saw that the blond had dispatched quite a few people all by himself.

" . ." Naruto mocked the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke raged at being disrespected like that. He was an Uchiha. His name demanded respect by itself. Sasuke moved to attack, but he was pulled back by a wary Kakashi. He was shocked when he saw the appearance of the new comer. He looked like his deceased Sensei. The fourth Hokage. He didn't knew who it was, so he was obviously worried. There was no known relative of the Minato Namikaze, so how was this boy looked exactly like him. He needed to report this to the Sandaime.

"Kisame, let's go." Naruto said and with that they disappeared in a swirl of water.

Sai and Sakura had stayed silent the whole time. Sakura, due to fear of being in front of a dangerous missing-nin and an equally dangerous unknown shinobi.

Sai on the other hand, had recognized the boy's features and knew that he looked exactly like the Yondaime. 'I must tell about him to Danzō-sama.'

* * *

Naruto and Kisame had dropped off Zabuza's body in one of the not-so-legal bounty offices to avoid problems from hunter-nins. This types of bounty offices were for the missing-nins and criminals to use to avoid detection. All of the regulars in that particular bounty office steered clear of the Akatsukis. Everybody knew that the group was consisted of S-rank nins. So nobody bothered them. Naruto wasn't as famous as the other members of Akatsuki, but nobody ever bothered him because everybody knew that he was a member. Nobody had ever seen his face because he always wore his conical straw hat whenever he went inside of the bounty offices. He knew that there was a missing bounty of him, but he didn't looked like the picture anymore. But still, it couldn't hurt to be safe of being recognized by anyone, however unlikely it was.

They headed back to Amegakure after claiming the bounty for Zabuza Momochi. Kisame had also sealed Kubikiribōchō for 'safe keeping'.

* * *

**Konohagakure**

Kakashi and team 7 was giving their mission report to the Hokage and a chunin mission assigner after they came back from their mission. The mission was a success however dangerous it was. He left out the detail about the young blond though. He needed to tell that to the Hokage alone.

"So you mean to tell me that the C-rank mission of escort, turned into a A-rank to almost S-rank?" Iruka asked incredulously. He was the mission assigner that time.

"Yes. We were lucky that the events turned out as it did, or we probably won't be here." Kakashi answered. He was tired and he spent the rest of their stay on guard seeing as two S-rank nins might go back for them. He needed his sleep, badly.

"Yes. You were lucky." The Sandaime Hokage started. "This will be an A-rank mission because you engaged Zabuza Momochi and that fake hunter-nin, Haku. based from your report, he was a Hyoton user. The appearance of Kisame Hoshigaki will not be accounted for as you didn't engage him in battle."

Sakura and Sasuke were wondering why their jōnin sensei left out about the other shinobi, but shrugged it off. Sai knew that Kakashi also noticed the other nin that was with Kisame and intended to tell it to the Hokage privately.

The rest of team 7 were dismissed and Kakashi elected to stay. The Sandaime noticed the Kakashi stayed so he waited until the rest of his team left.

"Sandaime-sama, I've left out one part of the report." Kakashi started and glanced towards Iruka that was still there.

Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Kakashi's glance. "It's alright, Kakashi. I trust that Iruka will not repeat whatever you want to say to anyone."

Kakashi shrugged. "There was another one that came with Kisame. The odd thing about it was he looked exactly like Minato-sensei, but he had weird eyes. I couldn't see it clearly from the distance, but it was weird. His eyes didn't have white scelera or any at all, I think."

Sautobi and Iruka were both shocked at the news. Sarutobi knew that only Naruto was the living descendant of Minato.

"Kakashi, is there some markings on his face? Like whisker marks, for example?" The Hokage asked carefully. Iruka noticed it however. He knew only one person who had whisker marks on his face.

"No. No marks at all" Kakashi answered, though a bit confused at the question. "And come to think of it, he didn't have any hitai-ate at all."

The Hokage dismissed the two Konoha-nins after that to be left alone with his thoughts. He was thinking about this enigma. The person that looked like the late Yondaime Hokage. He knew if there was a person that will look like Minato, it could only be Naruto. But without the facial whisker marks, it couldn't be Naruto as the whisker marks were a side effect of having the Kyuubi sealed within a person.

* * *

**AN: TADA! Chapter 2 for this fic. I wrote the chapter 2 for both of my stories one after the other. I need sleep. I need to do a lot of stuff too. Grrr. **

**Enjoy the read. Sorry for the battle in Nami no Kuni. I didn't want to write the copy of same battle to canon. Tell me if you want me to though. I will do it next time, however unlikely. **

**Please Read and Review. Tell me what you think...**


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